2 weeks agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Under-fire Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag believes he’s SAFE from sack and jets off on holiday amid Ratcliffe’s crunch talks
ERIK TEN HAG has jetted off on holiday — as he is confident Manchester United will not sack him during the international break.
United are off to their worst start in 35 YEARS under the Dutchman, with just eight points from seven games to leave them 14th in the table.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has gone on holiday despite coming under fireGettySir Jim Ratcliffe and the rest of Man Utd’s executives will hold a meetingPA
His future is certain to be discussed at the next meeting of United executives — including co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe — in London.
But it is understood Ten Hag spoke to Old Trafford’s top brass following Sunday’s goalless draw at Aston Villa and did not get the impression he was facing the chop.
Sources stress the upcoming meeting is a regular monthly get-together and has not been arranged because of their recent poor form.
Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer were both at the Theatre of Dreams and Carrington for meetings, along with club legend Gary Neville and also Sir Alex Ferguson.
Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel — who was approached by United in the summer — is still available.
And Ten Hag‘s new sidekick Ruud van Nistelrooy is a hero to fans and could be asked to hold the fort if United do decide to make a change.
The 54-year-old tactician is due back from his jollies at the weekend and the Red Devils do not have a game until they host Brentford a week on Saturday.
United’s 250-goal record scorer Wayne Rooney wants the club to stick with Ten Hag for the Bees’ visit — and beyond.
Prague’s beer scene is overflowing, with pints from £1.86.
The Czech capital is a paradise for beer lovers, packed with interesting bars, and boasting a host of microbreweries and centuries of brewing history.
From traditional pilsners to strange craft concoctions, the city has got something to tantalise every taste bud.
Three nights’ B&B at the Ibis Praha Mala Strana in Prague is from £356 per person, based on two sharing, including flights from Birmingham on October 25 with 22kg checked baggage.
GettyBucharest is a beer lover’s budget-friendly dream[/caption]
THIS city serves up bargains faster than you can say “cheers” in Romanian (it’s “noroc”, by the way).
With pints for as little as £1.50, Bucharest is a beer lover’s budget-friendly dream.
It has an 18th-century brewing heritage, but is not afraid to put modern twists on old favourites.
And it is another great option without raising your credit card bill too much.
Four nights’ room-only at the 3* Hotel Trianon in Bucharest is from £565 per person, based on two adults sharing, including flights leaving London Heathrow on October 19 with hand luggage only.
Budapest’s nightlife — especially its ruin bars — is legendary, as are beer prices
PARTY along the Danube without sinking your budget.
Budapest’s nightlife — especially its ruin bars — is legendary, as are beer prices.
You can get a local pint for as little as £1.20, or enjoy craft beers starting from £1.70.
The best part? Many Budapest breweries use locally sourced ingredients, including native hops and Hungarian barley, providing a true local flavour.
Three nights’ room only at the 4* Soho Boutique Hotel in Budapest is from £285 per person, based on two adults sharing, including flights departing London Gatwick on October 21 with hand luggage only.
GettyMunich is the spiritual home of Oktoberfest[/caption]
WHILE not the cheapest, with a pint averaging £3.50, Munich is the spiritual home of Oktoberfest.
Rub elbows with lederhosen-wearing locals in the city’s massive beer halls, tents and gardens.
The atmosphere alone is worth the admission price.
Steins of traditional Bavarian brews, oompah bands and pretzels the size of your head . . . it’s the ultimate Oktoberfest experience.
Three nights’ room-only at the Holiday Inn Munich-Unterhaching is from £217 per person, based on two sharing, including flights from London Gatwick on October 16 with hand luggage only.
GettyIceland’s capital boasts a beer culture born from Prohibition[/caption]
BRACE yourself, beer lovers — pints here average £8.61.
Iceland’s capital boasts a beer culture born from Prohibition.
After a total ban from 1915 to 1989, it is now celebrated.
From microbreweries to bars serving quirky, volcanic-inspired brews, Reykjavik proves that sometimes, quality trumps quantity.
Just remember to budget accordingly.
Three nights’ room-only at the 4* Hotel Island Spa and Wellness in Reykjavik is from £554 per person, based on two adults sharing, including Luton flights departing October 13 with hand luggage only.
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2 weeks agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Can I take Ozempic if I’m not overweight or obese? I just want to slim down before Christmas
FLU season may feel a little far off, but preparation starts now.
If you haven’t booked in your vaccine, this is your sign to do so!
Olivia WestSun columnist Dr Zoe advises readers on their health[/caption]
Flu jabs are free on the NHS if you’re over 65, pregnant, have certain health conditions or if you’re a healthcare worker, carer or live with someone who is immunocompromised.
Technically, flu season starts in December but infection rates start to rise this month.
Why bother getting a jab?
Well, flu is not just a bad cold, it causes a more severe illness.
While most people will recover after a week or two, for those identified as “at risk” it can be worse, fatal in some cases.
In the past two winters, both mild,18,000 deaths were associated with flu.
If you are not eligible for a free flu vaccine, one at a pharmacy costs from £12.
Here’s a selection of what readers have asked this week . . .
HOT FLUSHES 16 YEARS AFTER LAST PERIOD
Q) I HAD my last period at age 58 and at almost 74, I’m still having hot flushes.
I had been on HRT for four years previously when I was perimenopausal.
One GP told me it could go on until I’m 100 and another told me to “just live with it”.
But they’re really difficult to live with. I recently went away for a few days and the weather was lovely and warm but I was uncomfortable, to say the least.
Can you recommend what, if anything, I can do?
A) It sounds like you’re having a hard time at the moment and I’m sorry to hear that.
It’s always important to ensure that hot flushes aren’t just put down to and assumed to be the menopause.
Other things must be ruled out, especially if at the age of 74 they are new or getting worse.
There are plenty of other conditions which can cause hot flushes such as thyroid disorders, some infections and certain types of cancer as well.
So please make sure your GP investigates if necessary.
If you’re wondering about starting HRT again then there are a few things to think about.
Whatever your age, it is important to understand and be able to assess the risks versus benefit of treatment.
That equation does change as we get older, making the risks of taking HRT more significant as we age.
That’s not to say you absolutely can’t take it, but it is not commonly started in women above the age of 60, or if they are more than ten years past menopause.
It would be worth asking if there is a GP or nurse at the practice who has a special interest in menopause and if not, you may need to be referred to a menopause specialist if you do want to explore HRT further.
Of course there are non-hormonal treatments that can treat hot flushes too, including some antidepressant medications, gabapentin and, just last year, a new drug called fezolinetant was licensed in the UK for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms – however, it is currently licensed for those up to age 65.
IS OZEMPIC SAFE FOR EVERYONE?
Q) IS it safe for people who are not overweight to use Ozempic?
A)Ozempic is not licensed as a treatment for obesity or weight loss in the UK and should only be prescribed for diabetes.
GettyIs it safe for people who are not overweight to use Ozempic?[/caption]
Wegovy, which contains the same drug, semaglutide, is licensed for weight loss.
Mounjaro is a slightly newer, similar drug which is also licensed for treating obesity.
These types of injectable medications work to help people lose weight, predominantly by suppressing appetite.
The causes of obesity are complex, with genetics being one of the major factors.
Our genes partly determine how much we need to eat before we feel full and play a part in how our brain responds to food cues, so a highly responsive person will feel the urge to eat more often on any given day.
With the changes to the world over the past few decades, with bigger portion sizes, calorie-dense foods and food cues everywhere we turn, it’s easy to see why some people, due to their genetics, find it difficult to remain a healthy weight more than others.
So one way to look at these drugs is that they level the playing field.
For people who are genetically predisposed to being more hungry, the medication makes their urge to eat more aligned to that of a person who finds it easy to stay slim.
In terms of safety, no medication is without any risk and the balance against benefits is different for each individual, but are more likely to lean towards being beneficial for people who have severe obesity, especially if they have related health issues.
For people of a healthy weight, or who carry excess weight but remain metabolically healthy, it’s much more likely that the risks outweigh any benefit.
Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, gallstones and diarrhoea.
Less common, but more severe side effects include acute pancreatitis.
So in a nutshell, the simple answer to your question is no.
Tip of the week
SEASONAL affective disorder is when shorter days – and as a result, less daylight – can lead people to suffer from mood changes, fatigue, and depression.
If you have had a persistently low mood and are struggling to cope, please see your GP who can help.
Q) MY son is 17 and has got some spots on his back and shoulders and I’m not sure what it could be.
A) Thank you for the picture, below, which shows the classic signs of acne, a common skin condition.
A reader whose son suffers with spots on his back and shoulders writes into Dr ZoeSupplied
Both blackheads and whiteheads can occur with acne and it can range from a few spots on the face, neck, back and chest, to something more problematic, with solid painful lumps under the skin which may cause scarring.
Acne usually starts during puberty but can come at any point and most of us will experience it at some point.
In acne, the glands are sensitive and can produce too much oil.
At the same time, dead skin cells build up and block the pores, leading to blackheads and whiteheads.
Fortunately, there are lots of treatments – your son could try going to your local pharmacist first and requesting some over-the-counter medications that don’t require a prescription such as benzoyl peroxide or azelaic acid.
Could you help him with applying this to the skin?
It could be several months before changes are seen so it’s worth persevering with whatever treatment you start with.
Often people stop using treatments after the first few days because they can cause some mild increase in redness, dryness and irritation at first.
But as long as the symptoms are mild you should continue, or use on intermittent days until the skin gets used to it.
Alongside any treatment it’s important to follow some simple lifestyle rules too – don’t wash more than twice a day or use strong soaps as this can strip the natural oils from the skin and make the sebaceous glands work even harder to produce more.
Moisturise using a fragrance-free water-based emollient and try to avoid picking spots.
If over-the-counter medications don’t work, your GP can prescribe something.
Options include antibiotic or retinoid topical treatments applied directly to the skin, oral antibiotics, or oral contraceptive pills in females.
Dermatologists can prescribe isotretinoin capsules (Roaccutane) which is highly effective but it’s important to understand the potential side effects on mental and sexual health.
OBESITY LEVELS TRIPLE
WE are wolfing down giant portions of food without even realising, experts have warned.
More than a third of us never think about how the size of a serving can affect the waistline, and regularly eat way too much pasta, rice, cheese and cereal to be healthy, research by MyFitnessPal found.
GettyObesity levels have more than tripled in the UK since 1994[/caption]
Obesity levels here have more than tripled since 1994, with an estimated 26 per cent of people now in the category, according to the British Obesity Society.
But 77 per cent say they feel uncomfortably full after meals and two-thirds are going back for seconds.
One in five eat so quickly that they don’t realise they are full, with four in ten eating in front of the TV.
Only half of those surveyed checked packets for serving size suggestions.
It all means half of us are eating double the NHS-recommended portion of pasta (75g, one handful) and rice (75g, one and a half handfuls).
Half of us fill a cereal bowl to the top at breakfast time, instead of adhering to the recommended 40g.
A third of the survey participants said they have no grasp on what the recommended portion size for a meal should be.
MyFitnessPal head of nutrition Melissa Jaeger said: “By paying more attention to portion sizes and using a nutrition tracking app, we can make more informed choices that better support our health goals.”
QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES
THOUGH modern medicine continues to evolve rapidly, increases in life expectancy have stalled, a study suggests.
Average life expectancy almost doubled over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, but the rate of increase has dramatically slowed in the past 30 years, according to Chicago-based research.
Life expectancy at birth in the world’s longest-living populations has increased by only an average of six and a half years since 1990, according to the analysis of the longest-living countries in the world, reported in the journal Nature Aging.
The researchers say ageing and its complications are now the main obstacle to a longer life.
But aiming to extend life by reducing age-related disease could be harmful, if those additional years aren’t healthy, they maintain.
Lead author Professor Jay Olshansky said: “Most people alive today at older ages are living on time that was manufactured by medicine.
“But these medical Band-Aids are producing fewer extra years of life even though they’re occurring at an accelerated pace, implying that the period of rapid increases in life expectancy is now over.
“We should now shift our focus to efforts that slow ageing and extend ‘healthspan’.”
Some scientists had predicted that life expectancy would continue to improve over the 21st century thanks to advances in medicine and public health.
2 weeks agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Diablo 4 boss reveals why game is ‘best it’s ever been’ with ‘two game’ rule – plus tip for rare Vessel of Hatred mount
DIABLO 4 was one of 2023’s best-loved games – and it’s now the “best it’s ever been” thanks to a massive new upgrade.
That’s according to the hellishly more-ish game’s top boss Rod Fergusson, who spoke to The Sun about Diablo’s new Vessel of Hatred expansion.
Activision BlizzardDiablo 4 is getting a major upgrade with the Vessel of Hatred expansion[/caption]
Activision BlizzardDiablo General Manager Rod Fergusson spoke to The Sun about the new update[/caption]
Vessel of Hatred is out on Tuesday, October 8, and massively expands the existing Diablo 4 role-playing game.
You get a brand new class, loads of fresh content and, perhaps mostly importantly, an enormous area to explore called Nahantu.
“We wanted to bring another region in of the world of Sanctuary,” Rod, Diablo’s General Manager, told The Sun.
“Because most of Diablo 4 takes place on what we call the Eastern Continent.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
“And so there’s still some land at the bottom of that, plus there’s all of the whole Western Continent.
“There’s two sort of inspirations. One was we wanted to have something that was very different.
“When you think of Diablo 4, you think of medieval Gothic, Eastern European kind of sensibilities. And so our art director John Mueller was really interested in saying what could we do from a contrast perspective?
“What could we do that would provide more colour, but also just a variety.
“And so going to this ancient jungle was seen as one of the things we could do.”
NEW SPIRIT
In Vessel of Hatred, you’ll be exploring Nahantu to find Neyrelle, an adventurer who is looking for a way to destroy Mephisto – the prime evil, currently trapped inside a soulstone.
And you’ll be able to go on this journey as a brand new class called Spiritborn.
Rod says that the idea was to do something totally different and against the usual type of Diablo class.
“Everybody has this sort of like: If I was in a fantasy world, I would be a wizard, or I would be a barbarian, or I would be a druid or necromancer. That king of thing,” Rod told The Sun.
“And so the Spiritborn is kind of unique in that way. I don’t think kids are running around the playground going: “I’m gonna be a Spiritborn.”
Activision BlizzardThere’s a new region to explore called Nahantu[/caption]
Activision Blizzard, which makes the Diablo games (as well as World of Warcraft and Overwatch), describes the Spiritborn as the “apex predator” of the Nahantu jungle.
And Rod says the playstyle is very different from what Diablo players are used to.
“What we ended up with is a very adaptable class, which is very fast,” Rod explained.
“It’s like a spiritual monk that has these casting abilities, but also these martial arts abilities.
And then you have the gorilla – it’s probably one of my favourite ultimates.
Rod FergussonDiablo General Manager, Blizzard
“And because of those four spirit guardians, you can mix and go deep on one – or you can mix-and-match two at a time.
“And that really lets you make your own class. So that was one of the fun things about it.”
He added: “We wanted to have a class that came from that area because it meant it felt good as a package.
“Like hey, there’s a new region with a new story and this class is from that region. It felt really good.”
Part of the Spiritborn’s playstyle involves using different spirit guardians to your advantage.
There are four that you can make use of, each with different perks.
“There’s the speed of the jaguar that’s sort of fire-based. And the way that it attacks and its ultimate is so cool – when you bring in the spirit guardian of the large jaguar that just eats up everybody in the battlefield,” Rod told us.
“And then you have the gorilla – it’s probably one of my favourite ultimates, because when you cast it, it comes in and just smashes the ground and destroys everything around you.
Activision BlizzardSpiritborn is the new Diablo 4 class coming in Vessel of Hatred[/caption]
“And the centipede is cool because it comes out and does this beam of poison that sort of dissolves everybody.
“And then the eagle comes in and just electrifies the ground and explodes them.”
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Part of Blizzard’s challenge will be convincing people who haven’t played Diablo 4 (or maybe any Diablo game) to pick it up for the new expansion.
It’s available on Windows PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and via Steam, but that’s not a guarantee that it’ll be widely snapped up.
Rod says Diablo 4’s appeal is that it’s basically two games in one – and that split can appeal to lots of different players.
“Diablo is sort of two games in a way,” the Diablo chief explained.
“There’s the campaign game or the story part of it – some people come in, just play the story, and they have a great time. And that’s what they want to play.
“But there’s this other side of it, which is called the 100-hour game.
BAG YOURSELF A FREEBIE!
There are some special bonus treats that you can unlock just by watching people play Diablo 4...
Yes, Blizzard has teamed up with Twitch for some special Twitch Drops.
Starting from October 8, 10am California time (1pm New York, 6pm London), you can watch Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred to earn rewads.
Link your Battle.net account with your Twitch account then watch dedicated Streamers in the Diablo 4 category.
In week 1, you can earn Sorcerer and Necromancer cosmetic items.
In week 2, you can earn Barbarian items, followed by Rogue in week 3.
And week 4 gets you Druid cosmetics.
If you gift two Twitch subscriptions, you’ll be able to get the Ghost of the Conquered Mount.
And if you gift four subscriptions, you’ll bag the Glory of the Victor Mount Armor, seen above.
Activision BlizzardYou’ll be following Neyrelle, who is in possession of prime evil Mephisto – trapped inside a soulstone[/caption]
“The notion of: I want to play the story and get immersed in the world. But then once I’ve done that, I want to still continue to progress my character.
“I still want to get more and more powerful. I still want to test my strength. I’m gonna optimise it to be even stronger.
“So when you think about that as part of a live service, you’re always trying to add enriching ways to continue that 100-hour game.”
INTO THE DARK
For players that do want to dive into the 100-hour game, there’s a new mode called The Dark Citadel.
It’s the best that Diablo has ever been.
Rod FergussonDiablo General Manager, Blizzard
It’s a multiplayer dungeon experience that requires teamwork and – unusually for Diablo – can only be enjoyed in a group.
“The Dark Citadel is meant for really that end-game player. The player that has gotten maybe to max level, which is level 60,” Rod said.
“Once you get there, it’s multiplayer player-against-the-dungeon.
“But you work together as a team of at least two up to four.
“You go through and there’s mechanics that require you to work together. Like: I’m sending you down to kill everything on that floor so I can do this thing up top.
“It’s the first time in Diablo’s 28-year history we’ve done a multiplayer dungeon of that kind.
“So we’re excited to see as people complete the expansion story and get into the end-game and be able to play in The Dark Citadel.”
There’s also the return of Diablo’s classic Mercenaries feature, which might help classic players get back on board.
Activision BlizzardNew end-game content includes The Dark Citadel, a multiplayer-only dungeon experience[/caption]
“Mercenaries is something you first saw in Diablo 2. They became Followers in Diablo 3,” Rod explained.
“We know Mercenaries are popular, and so we wanted to bring Mercenaries back but have a Diablo 4 twist on it.
“So now they come back with their own skill trees. When you work with them, you build rapport so you can trade with them.”
Rod thinks that there’s basically something for everyone – new or old.
And the reviews for the early version of the game have been very positive, with The Sun’s own Diablo 4 review saying that Vessel of Hatred “improves on an already very good base game”.
Rod said: “Right now – because of season six, which is the season that launches with the expansion – it’s the best that Diablo has ever been.
“So if you’ve haven’t played Diablo 4 before, this is a great time to get in there.
“You can play the whole main campaign as the Spiritborn if you want to try the new class with the original story.
“Or you can go jump right into the expansion if you want to.”
